Drones dropping by + When picking your person + Trying to fit in recess + Confessions of a Costco Date
Newsworthy news. Quotable quotes. Notable numbers.
Drone delivery another step closer to coming to Tulsa, launching from Cherry Street
The Tulsa World’s Kevin Canfield broke news Monday afternoon with a report that Manna Air Delivery, a drone delivery service, has applied for permits to build in Tulsa. Drone service could be requested through DoorDash or on the company’s app.
Newborns now start with $1,000
“Trump Accounts” for kids rolled out over the holiday weekend. Parents, this is a new type of retirement savings account seeded with a cool grand. This unlocked Wall Street Journal article is the best explanation of everything on it I could find.
Mark Singer thought something was profoundly wrong with Tulsa. I’m late to mention this, since I thought others would write something. Singer was a Tulsan who at 23 became a staff writer at The New Yorker, but he never forgot to come back into town. He also wasn’t afraid to write critically about what he saw here. I have several of his books on the shelf. Singer famously sent a thank you letter and check to Donald Trump (way before he became president) for $37.82, after his criticism of Singer’s published profile, collected into a book, helped boost sales. Trump returned the letter with an all-caps note: “MARK — YOU ARE A TOTAL LOSER.” Trump did cash that check, though. I like what Russell Cobb wrote in The Pickup about his interactions with the writer, which appeared under the headline above. Singer was 75.
Notable numbers
30,000
– The number of job openings in Oklahoma over the number of people to fill them, according to a presentation by Trae Rahill, Oklahoma’s secretary of workforce development and head of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. He spoke to the Rotary Club of Tulsa downtown recently. Read Tulsa World Reporter Michael Dekker’s story on the talk.
1.8 million posts
– The number of TikTok posts with the hashtag #cardetailing, a job that more young people are taking on in this job market, according to this unlocked article in the Wall Street Journal. The 22-year-old profiled says he brings in $5,000 a month in profits, charging $180 to $2,000 a car. He’s booked up for the next two months and is looking to hire an assistant.
$773,808
– The amount reported by Oklahoma candidate campaigns from early April to mid-June for text messaging and related services. Oklahoma Watch’s Keaton Ross says that is up from about $60,000 in 2022.
This & That
If you aren’t over the 250th birthday of America, check out “The American Experiment” on Netflix, which features Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. The Tulsa Flyer’s Ginnie Graham wrote on her “On Ginnie’s Block” Substack that he provided an interesting and needed Indigenous perspective.
The definitive answer on how to sell a book, by Ann Patchett
Quotable quotes
On disagreement with the Supreme Court on birthright citizenship
“Oklahomans are rightly frustrated when someone breaks into our country to force us to give their children American citizenship. Other than salvation, American citizenship is the greatest gift on Earth, and it should never be obtained through fraud or illegal actions.”
– U.S. Sen. James Lankford in a press release quoted in the Tulsa World’s D.C. Digest, written by Randy Krehbiel. The decision made Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin repeat claims that pregnant Chinese women come to America to return their infants to their home country to raise them as spies.
On how communities care for one another
“There’s a country saying that my dad used to always say, and it’s, ‘You can tell what kind of town you’re living in when the barn burns down, who pulls in the driveway.’ And I think that is a description of a healthy community.”
– Carla Meyer, chief resource development and finance officer at Tulsa Area United Way, on The Deep End podcast, hosted by Kelley Scott with Clarehouse, the first Social Model Hospice Home in Oklahoma.
On picking a partner in life
“When you select a partner, whether you realize it or not, you are choosing a whole lifestyle — not just a person. You’re choosing their sleep schedule. You’re choosing their money habits. You’re choosing their stress levels, their family drama, their levels of cleanliness, their work ethic, their coping mechanisms. All of these things will be a baseline of your daily life. If their normal is doom scrolling until 2 a.m., avoiding all conflict, impulse spending, and never exercising — guess what? You’re signing up to live in that ecosystem. Love does not cancel out people’s flaws. In fact, love just makes you tolerate them for longer. Most people obsess over, ‘Do we have romantic chemistry?’ And they completely skip, ‘Can I live with this person’s version of Tuesday every week for the next 10 years?’ The hard truth: You don’t fix somebody’s lifestyle from the inside. You either accept the package as they are, or you walk.”
– Mark Manson, author of “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” and host of the Solved podcast.
On what AI has to say on elections
“I can’t tell you who to vote for — that’s a values call that’s yours to make.”
– What Claude, an AI chatbot developed by Anthropic to analyze data and hold conversations, told me when I asked who I should vote for in the Republican run-off election between Mike Mazzei and Gentner Drummond, which is set for Aug. 25. It then lists some facts about each candidate and asks if I wanted more information on a particular issue. As the New York Times reported in this unlocked article, the 2026 midterms may be the first American elections in which voters are using A.I. in meaningful numbers.
Mark your calendars: I will moderate a second governor forum for that election, in partnership with the Tulsa Press Club and the University of Tulsa, on Tuesday, Aug. 11. The Tulsa World’s Randy Krehbiel and Oklahoma Watch’s Paul Monies will ask the questions.
On what kids need at school
“They need recess so they can do what they need to do.”
– Royce Parker, who will be a fifth-grader at Mayo Demonstration School in Tulsa. The Tulsa World’s Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton writes about the “schedule Tetris” school administrators are playing right now in the newest unfunded mandate to hit public schools: At least 40 minutes of recess daily in kindergarten through fifth grade. That’s double what it was.
Oklahoma Voice’s Nuria Martinez-Keel, in her story on the subject, reported that when issuing guidance for how to implement the law, state Superintendent Lindel Fields informed district leaders that recess no longer would count toward the 1,086 instructional hours that make up a school year. That’s creating a new issue.
A mural for you
A cool look at the new mural by Jeks of Leon Russell in downtown Tulsa.
Confessions of a Costco Date
We didn’t have plans but needed a few groceries. So it was a Costco Date. Our first.
I was surprised how many other couples were there on a Friday night. There weren’t a lot of notable free samples to taste, but we got our steps in and saved money on our items. Fun fact: The cashier said the most expensive single receipt she had handed over to a customer was for $12,000. Please note, no famous Costco hot dogs or pizza were consumed. I don’t believe in cheap dates.
Taking next week off: Will be back online and in your inboxes on Tuesday, July 20.
There is no cavalry.
It’s up to us.
All together now. jc